Brisbane Roar team have kept alive their National Youth League season with a late 2-1 win over a gutsy nine-man Newcastle Jets outfit at Adamstown Oval on Friday evening.
A 50th-minute solo goal from Jeremy Brockie gave the Jets the lead before the Roar equalised five minutes later through substitute forward Matthew Thurtell.
But the evenly-matched game was turned on its head midway through the second half when the Jets had two players sent off in the space of 10 minutes.
Newcastle goalkeeper Neil Young turned in a heroic performance between the sticks to keep his side in the match in the face of late Brisbane onslaught but he was left heartbroken when unable to keep out a 90th-minute strike from Alister Quinn.
The win sees the Roar move into equal fifth with Sydney FC and just one place out of the top four with the rest of round 22 to play, while the Jets remain in seventh.
Newcastle went into the match with a number of Hyundai A-League players in their line-up including Brockie and Young as well as James Virgili, Jacob Pepper and Mario Simic, who have been in playing in the top team for the last few weeks.
It was the home side who pressed earliest with Brockie and fellow forward Gavin Forbes giving the Roar defence plenty of headaches with some bullocking runs into the box.
Forbes headed over from a Jesse Pinto cross in the 10th minute while Brockie fired wide after being played in by Virgili.
The Roar had their first real chance on the 25-minute mark when Quinn made an incisive run down the left flank before ghosting into the box and firing a shot from an acute angle that saw Young produce a sharp save.
Young was called into action again 10 minutes later when Roar skipper Chris Bush pounced on an errant pass from Jets defender Nathan Millgate and set Joashua McVey free on the right flank. The Roar winger raced into the penalty area before unleashing a powerful shot that forced Young into a fine reflex save.
A long-range effort from Pinto was pushed over the bar by Roar keeper Matthew Acton while Brockie again looked dangerous but couldn’t find the target.
Roar midfielder Kenneth Dougall fired a low shot from the edge of the area but Young was able to gather it comfortably to send the teams to the sheds locked at 0-0.
The game opened up in the second half and it was the Jets who took advantage with a fine solo goal to Brockie. The Kiwi international took the ball just in his own half and went on a swerving run inside the box before placing the ball neatly past Acton for the opening goal.
Brisbane equalled just five minutes later, however, when Bush slipped down the right wing before firing in a pin-point cross that an unmarked Thurtell headed in at the back post.
The Jets were reduced to 10 men in the 64th minute when right back Daniel Laiman received his second yellow card for a heavy challenge on Quinn.
Newcastle were down to nine men eight minutes later when Pinto was shown a straight red card for sweeping the legs out from Roar midfielder Ross Archibald in a ill-judged tackle.
The Jets dug deep and defended gamely and it was Young who again kept his side in the match with a clutch of fine saves including a spectacular diving effort to swat away Luke Brattan’s dipping volley as Brisbane flooded forward in search of the winner.
Brisbane eventually broke down the stubborn Newcastle defence in the final seconds of regular time. Bush saw his on target shot parried away by Young but the ball fell to Quinn who slotted into the far corner for a 2-1 lead.
Brockie had a late chance to equalise in injury time when he hit a vicious free-kick from 35 metres that Acton did well to parry around the post and ensure the Roar collected all three points.
Newcastle Jets 1 (Brockie 50)
Brisbane Roar 2 (Thurtell 55, Quinn 90)
Adamstown Oval, Newcastle
